Criminal Squad
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Criminal Squad |
| Original title | Den of Thieves |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2018 |
| length |
German Theatrical version : 124 minutes US theatrical version : 140 minutes Unrated Cut: 148 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Christian Gudegast |
| script | Christian Gudegast, Paul Scheuring |
| production |
Mark Canton , Tucker Tooley , Gerard Butler , Alan Siegel |
| music | Cliff Martinez |
| camera | Terry Stacey |
| cut |
Joel Cox , Nathan Godley , David S. Cox |
| occupation | |
| |
Criminal Squad (Original title: Den of Thieves ) is an American action film directed by Christian Gudegast , which was released in US cinemas on January 19, 2018 and in German cinemas on February 1, 2018.
action
In Los Angeles , Ray Merrimen and his crew try to steal a money transporter whose crew is getting breakfast. When one of the guards reaches for his weapon, there is a shooting in which the guards are killed. The alarmed police can be repulsed in the following exchange of fire, in which one of Merrimen's men is killed, and the gangsters escape with the money truck.
Detective Nick "Big Nick" O'Brien of the Major Crimes Division of the County of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department (LASD) and his team are investigating the case. It is puzzling why, of all things, an empty money transporter was stolen with so much effort. Possible perpetrators are Ray Merrimen, who has a criminal record, and his gang. After evaluating the surveillance cameras, the local barman Donnie is identified as one of the perpetrators. Nick ambushes him, tasert and kidnaps him to brutally intimidate and interrogate his people. Donnie gives in under pressure and tells in flashbacks how he joined Merrimens crew, but is only used as a driver and is never let in on the gang's plans. Nick then lets Donnie go and continue to observe.
The viewer learns, however, that Merrimen plans to rob the branch of the Federal Reserve Bank in Los Angeles. In the process, banknotes to the value of 30 million US dollars , which are to be discarded and destroyed because of their poor condition, are to be stolen. Donnie, who hasn't told Merrimen about Nick's interrogation, is hired as a delivery man at a Chinese diner across the street from the bank and delivers lunch there. In preparation for the imminent robbery, Donnie hides a delivery of food in the ventilation shaft in the toilet.
When Merrimen and his crew are having dinner in a restaurant, Nick and his team enter the restaurant. Nick pretends to be Donnie's acquaintance and provokes Merrimen. Merrimen becomes suspicious and accuses Donnie of working for the police on the way home. He threatens Donnie with his gun, until Donnie finally confesses that Nick came up to him but didn't tell him anything. Merrimen believes him and lets him live. Donnie is supposed to tell Nick that a robbery is to take place on Friday at an unknown crime scene.
On the day of the attack, Merrimen and his men drive to a small bank. In the parking lot, Nick and his team are ready to intervene as soon as the gangsters commit a crime. The otherwise very professional crew takes hostages, lets the store manager open the safe and clears it out. They also call the police and make various demands. After talking to a police agent on the phone, Merrimen has one of the hostages executed for not responding to the demands. Suddenly an explosion shakes the bank, windows burst and Nick storms into the bank, followed by his people. They find out that the supposedly shot hostage is still alive and that the gangsters blasted a hole in the floor of the vault, via which they then fled through the sewer system .
With a bogus phone call to the Federal Reserve Bank, Mack announces a delivery of bills from the previously robbed bank. The Merrimen and Levoux, disguised as security guards, manage to get into the bank by using the stolen money transporter and forged papers, past the strict security precautions of the Federal Reserve Police . Shortly before the cash containers in the counting room can be checked by the bank staff, Bosco causes a power failure, which results in the evacuation of the counting room. Donnie, who is hiding in one of the containers, also generates an EMP that disrupts the surveillance cameras. Donnie gets out of the container and throws the not yet destroyed banknotes, the serial numbers of which have already been deleted from the system, in bags through a garbage chute, where they are picked up by a garbage truck. Shortly before the power failure has been rectified, Donnie escapes from the counting room via a ventilation shaft and leaves the bank unmolested via the toilet, disguised as a delivery man. Merrimen and Levoux can also leave the bank in the money transporter without any problems.
In the meantime, Nick and his people have made their way to the Federal Reserve Bank. Donnie is discovered by Nick on the way to Mack and dragged into the car. With blows he reveals the meeting point of the crew. Mack watches the scene and informs Merrimen that they have been blown. Merrimen, Levoux and Bosco have now intercepted the garbage truck from the bank and are loading the money bags into another car.
On their escape, however, the gangsters get stuck in a traffic jam. Also in a traffic jam, in sight behind them, they discover Nick and his men. Nick's team handcuffs Donnie in the vehicle and decides to enter. In the shooting that followed, one of Nick's men, Bosco and Levoux were shot dead. Nick pursues Merrimen, who escapes over a fence and is badly wounded. After Merrimen runs out of ammunition, Nick wants to catch him. When Merrimen aims at him with the empty gun, Nick shoots him. When searching the getaway car, however, Nick and his team only find banknotes that have already been destroyed and worthless. When they return to their car, they notice that Donnie has escaped.
Nick goes to the bar where Donnie works. The boss tells him, however, that Donnie quit two days ago. Nick orders a beer and notices old photos of Donnie and members of the Merrimen gang from her school days in the bar - proof that Donnie had known them for a long time. Flashbacks show that Donnie was the real planner of the bank robbery and recruited Merrimen. Likewise, Donnie had planned to have the bin bags with the banknotes picked up by another garbage truck and had Merrimen intercept the wrong truck. Donnie got the information from the Federal Reserve Bank through the guests in the bar, who mainly worked for the police and the bank. Nick realizes that Donnie used Merrimen and his crew and walks out laughing.
The final scenes show Donnie working in a London bar and Mack and Donnie's other accomplices sitting at a table. Another flashback shows how Donnie sends the booty from the robbery, wrapped in car tires, to Panama City . When a man in a suit orders a beer, Donnie asks him if he's working on the diamond exchange across the street. The man answers the question in the affirmative, Donnie smiles at him and tells him that the beer is on the house.
production
Directed by Christian Gudegast , who wrote the screenplay for the film together with Paul Scheuring . Gudegast, who otherwise works as a screenwriter, made his directorial debut with this. He is the son of the American US television star Eric Braeden .
The shooting took place in Atlanta .
The film premiered on January 15, 2018 in Los Angeles and was released in US cinemas on January 19, 2018 and in German cinemas on February 1, 2018.
The film exists in three cut versions. The German theatrical version is around 16 minutes shorter than the US version. An unrated cut of 148 minutes was also produced.
reception
Age rating
In the USA, the film received an R rating from the MPAA , which corresponds to a rating of 17 and over. In Germany the film is FSK 16 . The statement of reasons for the release states: “The straightforward story is told with elements typical of gangster films , but also westerns , and has ambivalent characters. The action and violence scenes as well as the ongoing tension and sometimes vulgar language can overwhelm children and young people under 16 years of age. However, since the staging dispenses with overly explicit depictions of violence and repeatedly overdrawing and a portion of irony facilitate distancing, 16-year-olds are able to deal with the aspects. "
Reviews
Martin Schwickert from epd Film thinks that testosterone rules in the film and that the cockfights of the fluffed-up guys repeatedly cross the line to involuntary caricature: “Most people talk with clenched teeth or the bite of a predator. If any. Often the alpha animals indulge in minute-long gaze duels or shoot each other in the shooting range before they part again in a meaningful silence. ”For 140 minutes of cinema, Christian Gudegast tore up his lead-saturated macho skirmish, which could barely run with legs apart, so Schwickert continued, and the only sentence , which is spoken by a woman for the entire duration, appropriately reads: "I did what you asked of me."
The film service criticized Gudegast's film "knew not to achieve tension from the material". He is not lacking in originality, but the staging is "less than the echo of an echo", it consists only of "helpless tape salad". The actors would downplay their clichéd roles “bored”, indulged in “inconsequential dialogues” and looked as if they could feel “their own mother's index finger”. A kind of fear of contact would also run through the film, so the narrative strands “without points of contact” ran past each other and the violence remained “an abstraction”. Thus Criminal Squad is "genre cinema that does not trust the qualities of the genre".
Gross profit
The film grossed $ 15.5 million on the first weekend for a total spend of $ 30 million. The film's worldwide revenue from theatrical screenings is $ 80.5 million to date. So far, the film has had 233,852 visitors in Germany (as of March 18, 2018).
continuation
On February 13, 2018 it was announced that a sequel to the film is planned. On board are again actor Gerard Butler and director Christian Gudegast.
synchronization
The German synchronization was based on a dialogue book and the dialogue direction by Robin Kahnmeyer on behalf of TaunusFilm Synchron GmbH, Berlin.
| actor | Voice actor | role |
|---|---|---|
| Gerard Butler | Tobias Kluckert | Detective Nick "Big Nick" O'Brien |
| Maurice Compte | Martin Kautz | Detective Benny "Borracho" Magalon |
| Pablo Schreiber | Tommy Morgenstern | Ray Merrimen |
| Evan Jones | Michael Deffert | Bo "Bosco" Eastern Roman |
| Dawn Olivieri | Bianca Krahl | Debbie |
| O'Shea Jackson Jr. | Jan-David Rönfeldt | Donnie Wilson |
| Mo McRae | Björn Schalla | Gus Henderson |
| Curtis '50 Cent 'Jackson | Dennis Schmidt-Foss | Enson "Levi" Levoux |
| Jordan Bridges | Olaf Reichmann | "Lobbin 'Bob" Golithly |
| Malieek Straughter | Gerald Schaale | Luigi |
| Cooper Andrews | Tobias Müller | Mack |
| Sonya Balmores | Isabelle Schmidt | Malia |
| Marcus LaVoi | Sven Brieger | Marcus Rhodes |
| Brian Van Holt | Peter Flechtner | Detective Murph Connors |
Web links
- Criminal Squad in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Criminal Squad in the German dubbing file
- Criminal squad at rotten tomatoes (English)
- Criminal Squad in the German dubbing file
Individual evidence
- ^ Certificate of Release for Criminal Squad . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; test number: 175668 / K).
- ↑ Start dates Germany In: insidekino.com. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
- ↑ Comparison of the cut versions. In: schnittberichte.com. May 10, 2018. Retrieved May 11, 2018 .
- ↑ Den of Thieves In: parentpreviews.com. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
- ↑ Reason for approval for Criminal Squad In: Voluntary self-control of the film industry. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
- ↑ Martin Schwickert: Review of 'Criminal Squad' In: epd Film.
- ↑ Lucas Barwenczik: Review of 'Criminal Squad' In: Filmdienst.
- ↑ Den of Thieves In: boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
- ↑ Top 100 Germany 2018 In: insidekino.com. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
- ↑ Criminal Squad with Gerard Butler receives a sequel . In: moviepilot.de . February 14, 2018 ( moviepilot.de [accessed February 15, 2018]).